Welt support



Mwch m H W. s. ANDERSON y fifi WELT SUPPORT Filed April 26, 1935 William S. Anderson Patented Mar. 10, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE WELT SUPPORT Application April 26;

Claims.

This invention relates to welt supports for supporting the welt of a welted shoe during the operation of cementing the outsole: to the shoe.

In cementing an outsole to a welted shoe the 5 contacting surfaces of the welt and the outsole are provided with suitable adhesive and then a sole-attaching pressure is applied to the outsole to firmly press the cement-coated surfaces of the welt and outsole together. This pressure is usually applied to the outsole through the medium of a sole-attaching apparatus which includes in its construction a flexible bed or pad engaging the outer face of the outsole and against which the shoe is pressed with a more or less heavy pressure.

If the welt extends beyond the upper of the provide a novel welt support which is adapted to I be attached to the shoe before the outsole is applied and which serves to support the upper surface of the welt and prevent it and the edge of the outsole from being turned or rolled up toward the upper during the application of the sole-attaching pressure to the outsole.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved welt support which is especially designed for use by cobblers in repairing welted shoes by cementing new outsoles thereto although the device is also well adapted for use by shoe manufacturers in the manufacture of welted shoes having cement-attached soles. My improved welt support is in the form of a length of closely-coiled wire of a size to be received in the crease between the welt and the upper of a welted shoe, said coil being provided with tackreceiving eyes adapted to receive tacks by which the welt support is attached to the shoe. Since the support is made of closely-coiled wire it is flexible and can easily be placed around the toe portion of any shoe, and because of the flexibility of the support it will fit the contour of any shoe. In using the device the operator will place it in the crease between the upper and the welt and will secure it in place by driving tacks through the tack-receiving eyes. After this welt support has been thus applied to the shoe then the sole is cemented thereto in the usual way and during the application of the sole-attaching pressure the welt support serves to hold the Welt 1935, Serial No. 18,411

in its correct position and prevent it from being turned or rolled upwardly.

In order to give an understanding of the invention I have illustrated in the drawing some selected embodiments of the invention which will now be described after which the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view of a welt support embodying my invention.

Figs. 2 and 3 are fragmentary sectional views through a welted shoe showing the welt support in use.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a shoe to which the welt support has been applied preparatory to having an outsole cemented thereto.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a shoe press show-v ing a shoe therein with the sole being cemented thereto.

In the drawing l indicates a welted shoe having the usual upper 2 and welt 3, said welt and upper being sewed to the insole i by the, inseam stitches 5 as is usual in welted shoes.

The outsole of the shoe is shown at 6 and it is cemented to the shoe bottom in the usual way by applying a suitable cement to the contacting faces of the welt 3 and outsole 6 and then applying a sole-attaching pressure to the outsole. This pressure can be applied conveniently through the medium of a sole press l2 such as shown in Fig. 5 and which includes a flexible bed or pad I which forms the top of a watercontaining chamber 8, the shoe being pressed against this flexible pad I by means of a screw 9 screw-threaded through a nut It carried in the yoke II with which the sole press is provided. This screw 9 acts against a last member l3 having a plate portion 21 which fits the inside of the shoe.

When the sole-attaching pressure is thus applied to the outsole the flexible nature of the pad 1 tends to cause the peripheral portion of the outsole and the welt to turn or roll up thereby producing a rolled-edge efiect.

The welt support embodying my invention and which is intended to prevent the rolling up of the edge of the outsole is indicated at M. This is in the form of a closely-coiled wire of an appropriate length which is of a size to be received in the crease I5 between the welt and the upper and which is provided along its length with a plurality of tack-receiving eyes adapted to receive tacks by which the device is secured to the shoe. The welt support I have shown is made in sections, there being the longer central section II, an intermediate section I8 at each end of the central section, and two end sections I9. The intermediate sections I8 are preferably shorter than the central section I! and the end sections I9 are shorter still. The central section I! is formed at each end with an eye I6 which is interlinked with a similar eye20 formed on the adjacent end of the intermediate section I8. The outer ends of the intermediate sections I8 are provided with eyes 2| which are interlinked with similar eyes 22 on the inner ends of the end sections I9. The outer end of each end section is shown as being formed with an eye 23. These eyes can be made from the ends of the wire from which the various sections are formed. In using the device the operator will place the central section IT in the crease I5 around the toe portion of the shoe I, and while holding said central portion tightly against the shoe he will drive tacks 24 through the eyes IE or 20 thereby anchoring the central section of the support in place. The intermediate sections I8 are then laid along the crease I5 at the sides of the shoe and other tacks 25 are driven through the eyes 2I or 22 thus holding the intermediate portions of the support in place.

If the shoe is a large shoe so that there are still portions of the welt needing support beyond that which is supported by the intermediate sections I8 then the end sections I9 will be laid in the crease I5 and tacked in position by suitable tacks 26. If the shoe is a small shoe it may be that the central section I! and the intermediate sections I8 will be sufficient to properly support the welt in which case the end sections I9 may be left hanging.

This support can be readily applied to the shoe by an operator in a factory or by a cobbler repairing the shoe and when it is thus applied the shoe is ready to have the outsole 6 attached in the usual way.

During the application of the sole-attaching pressure the welt support I4 serves to support the upper face of the welt and prevent it from curling upwardly so that the sole and the welt will be maintained in their correct position during the sole-attaching operation. The device embodying my invention is simple and easily used and it requires no special tools or machines to apply it to the shoe.

The wire used in making the welt support I4 may be of any suitable material. I will preferably use spring wire to give the welt support resiliency so that it will not take a set when it is bent around the toe of the shoe, but will, when removed from the shoe, resume its normal straight condition shown in Fig. 1. I will preferably also make the wire of some rust resisting material, for which purpose the wire may be made entirely of rust resisting material or may be coated with such material. I find that chromium steel is excellent material for making the wire but the invention is not limited to the use of any particular kind of metal.

I claim.

1. A welt support for supporting a welt while cementing an outsole to a welted shoe, said welt support comprising a length of closelycoiled wire of a size to be received in the crease between the welt and the upper of a shoe and provided with tack-receiving eyes to receive tacks to attach the support to the shoe.

2. A welt support for supporting a welt while cementing an outsole to a welted shoe, said welt support comprising a length of closely-coiled wire of a size to be received in the crease between the welt and the upper of a shoe and provided with a plurality of tack-receiving eyes distributed along its length and adapted to receive tacks to attach the support to the shoe.

3. A welt support for supporting the welt against sole-attaching pressure, said support comprising a plurality of sections of closelycoiled wire pivotally connected together, each section being of a size to be received in the crease between the welt and the upper of a shoe, and means for attaching said support to the shoe.

4. A welt support for supporting the welt against sole-attaching pressure, said support comprising a plurality of sections of closelycoiled wire pivotally connected together, each section being of a size to be received in the crease between the welt and the upper of a shoe, the pivotal connections between the sections providing tack-receiving eyes adapted to receive tacks for attaching the support to the shoe.

5. A welt support for supporting the welt of a welted shoe against sole-attaching pressure, said support comprising a plurality of sections of closely-coiled wire of a size to be received in the crease between the welt and the upper of the shoe, each section having at each end an eye which is linked to the eye of an adjacent section, said eyes being adapted to receive tacks to attach the support to the shoe.

WILLIAM S. ANDERSON. 

